How to handle sweetener allergy

Hi. I am a 44 year old. obese, newly diagnosed Type2 secondary to PCOS. I have a serious Pepsi addiction for not only the taste, but the caffeine keepy migraines at bay. I don't really like other forms of caffeine enough to actually consume them, unless you count chocolate, which is a whole other post.

Anyway - I need to figure out how to cut out sugar from other parts of my diet. I am, unfortunatley allergic to nutra-sweet. Splenda does not settle really well with me either. Anyone have any suggestions and how to actually substitute things?thanks!

4 replies

If you are a true pepsi addict, (my hubby is too), I have found that Pepsi Next gives him the taste and caffeine, but only has 60 calories and 10 grams of carbs for a 12 oz can, and no artificial sweetners. may not be as low in carbs but better than regular pepsi and you dont lose the taste.

I have tried the Zevia and it was very sweet tasting to me. I was a "Pepsi Girl" for many many years. I used to drink it from sun up until I went to bed. Now, i just drink water. I have also wondered how Pepsi Next tasted. I am curious, however, I do not want to get back into drinking Pepsi again. It took me a long while to stop drinking it. I had major headache withdrawals. Sugar is very addicting. Have a great Wednesday everyone!!! :-)

I too deal with migraines. In fact at one point I was having chronic cluster migraines for almost 2 years straight. I learned several things which helped me. You may already know this but just in case, hopefully they will help answer some of your questions or help you find solutions. For one thing, I recently learned that sugar can increase inflammation in my body. Who knew. Inflammation can increase pain, migraines and affect other health problems. Nopalea/prickly pear can help inflamation, but so can cutting out sugar. I never thought I'd do it, but I've now cut out all soda.

OK now that probably sounds terrifying because you're using the quick burst of caffiene to treat your migraines. I use ice tea if I really feel caffiene will do the trick, but I also know that sometimes it can make migraines worse and you can get stuck in a cycle where the very thing you think is helping is hurting. That may or may not be true for you, but learning that really opened my eyes and I haven't had caffiene in ages, and soda in weeks. I quit the soda completely even the no sugar kind (not to be confused with fake sugars which give me migraines) because carbonation also can cause harm to our bodies. Who knew?!?

The more I learn, the healthier I get, so I wanted to share these things with you.

Now to more specifically answer your question, I found that rather than eating sugar or sweetner which both are hard on my body, occasionally I can substitute fruit juice, fruit, frozen fruit or fruit preserves (no sugar added) sometimes I cook fruit down to create a sweet syrup which I add SPARINGLY to foods. Mostly I have gotten used to less sweet foods and I am losing my cravings for suger.I also am having less yeast problems! (which yes, can happen to men)

How about instant iced tea mix (they make both regular/caffeine, and de-caf) Mix with a bit of lemon juice and stevia. If you are not crazy about stevia, try Sweet Leaf, sugar leaf…it is a combo of raw cane sugar and stevia that tastes just like sugar but only 1.2 carbs per serving. A little goes a long way.The also make Zevia, a soda made with stevia…pretty expensive, but I feel it is sooooo sweet that I add just a tiny splash to selzer water for a bit of soda taste and it makes it more affordable for me. Not sure, but doubt if it contains caffeine.